Newcastle Want Marseille Striker to be First Summer Signing – Report

Newcastle hope to complete a deal for Andre-Pierre Gignac in the coming days. [Reuters]

Newcastle United have made contact with Marseille in a bid to sign striker Andre-Pierre Gignac as Alan Pardew looks to complete his first signing of the summer.

Gignac was linked with a move to St James Park earlier this summer but reports suggested that the striker was unprepared to leave Marseille in order to join the Premier League side.

The Express claims that the 27 year old asked his advisors to seek out interest from a bigger club but thus far there have been no offers and the possibility of joining Newcastle has become more realistic.

Reports in France suggest that Newcastle have now contacted the Ligue 1 side in order to see if Gignac will reconsider his position as the North East club look to bolster their squad after narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

Pardew admitted that the club were monitoring Darren Bent and Loic Remy, while Gignac's Marseille teammate Bafetimbi Gomis has also been linked with a possible move to Newcastle.

However, it seems as though Gignac is now the preferred option as Pardew desperately scrambles to bring in reinforcements.

Having sold Demba Ba to Chelsea in January, and with serious questions marks over the future of Papiss Cisse because of his refusal to wear a shirt bearing the club's new sponsor Wonga, there is a need for a new striker this summer.

Newcastle flew to Portugal to play two pre-season games and Pardew confirmed that he expected there to be at least one arrival before they return to England next Wednesday.

"I would expect to be down the road with a transfer when we are in Portugal," said Pardew. "I am hoping that Joe [Kinnear] and (club secretary) Lee Charnley get something over the line."

Much of the responsibility for completing a deal will fall to Kinnear who was appointed by chairman Mike Ashley to specifically work on transfers.